All four ships were built by William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia.[2]
These ships were built concurrently with the and in some references are considered to be in that class. In design and armament they were essentially repeats of the Cassin class.[1]
Unlike the other "thousand tonner" classes, the Aylwins were not a significant improvement on the previous class.[1]
They retained the Cassins' armament of four 4adj=onNaNadj=on/50 caliber Mark 9 guns and eight 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in twin broadside mounts. Compared with the previous of the "flivver" type, the increased gun armament reflected the increasing size of foreign destroyers they might have to fight. The broadside (two twin mounts each side) torpedo armament reflected the General Board's desire to have some torpedoes remaining after firing a broadside.[3] The class was probably equipped with one or two depth charge racks each for anti-submarine convoy escort missions in World War I.[4] Benham was equipped with four twin 4-inch mounts in 1917, but these were replaced with single mounts before she deployed overseas. By 1929 all except Parker had a 3adj=onNaNadj=on/23 caliber anti-aircraft gun added.[2]
The ships were equipped with four White-Forster boilers supplying steam to two Cramp direct-drive steam turbines driving two shafts for 16000shp as designed; all of the class exceeded this on trials. Compound steam engines could be clutched to the shafts for economical medium-speed cruising.[1] Aylwin achieved on trials at 16286lk=onNaNlk=on; this was typical for the others of the class. Normal fuel oil capacity was 307 tons.[5]
| Name | Hull no. | Shipyard | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Fate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DD-47 | William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia | 7 March 1912 | 23 November 1912 | 17 January 1914 | 23 February 1921 | data-sort-value="1935" | Scrapped 1935 | ||
| DD-48 | William Cramp & Sons | 11 March 1912 | 8 February 1913 | 30 December 1913 | 6 June 1922 | data-sort-value="1935" | Scrapped 1935 | ||
| DD-49 | William Cramp & Sons | 14 March 1912 | 22 March 1913 | 20 Jan 1914 | 7 July 1922 | data-sort-value="1935" | Scrapped 1935 | ||
| DD-50 | William Cramp & Sons | 7 May 1912 | 21 December 1912 | 26 March 1914 | 20 June 1922 | data-sort-value="1935" | Scrapped 1935 |